14: And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
It is interesting that you inspired John to compare You to a snake. Typically we think of snakes being a sign of evil and they are scary and disgusting; but You are none of those things. I know that not everything is as it seems, and that the only person who has the authority to judge a person is you, Lord. Open mind, open spirit...
17: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
I was telling my mom last night that You are a loving God, everything works for You and is good. Therefore even the brutal killing of Your son was and continues to be a blessing. Lord, you are amazing. I am thankful that You have chosen me to carry out your will. I am blessed to have such a loving Father as You...
Thank you Lord, I love You. Amen.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
Galatians 2: 17-21
19: For through the law I died to the law
21: I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
Lord, I understand now. In your eyes it doesn't matter if I run a stop sign or go over the speed limit. You are more concerned with matters of the heart. As You say, I am not subject to the laws of man, but to Your laws. I must love my neighbor as myself. I must love continuously and without a reason to love. In order to lead others closer to You, I must not be afraid. I must dare to be different and not conform to the ideals set forth by this world. It won't be easy, but it wasn't easy for You to die for me. Maybe because You loved me so much, loved everyone so much, and yet I remember Your words in the garden of Gesthemane, if it is Your will Father, take this cup from my lips so that I may not drink it, and die. Ok, so You didn't say that per se, however You had a hard time listening to Your own Father's will. It's a relief that the Greatest Example of humanity on Earth struggled with this. Although my tasks may be hard, I need to learn to accept it. I need to accept it. I find it hard to explain why the smoke can be a blessing, yet I know that everything that comes from you is a blessing. Lord, watch over the firemen and all Your people in the surrounding area. May the smoke clear and the fire be extinguished. I pray for everyone that is or was affected by the smoke and ask you to bless them and protect their lungs. Thank you Lord for the amazing day, and life that you have put me in. I ask that you watch over me and send the Holy Spirit to lead me into the role you have destined to be mine.
Forever and always, Your daughter,
Ashley. Amen.
21: I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
Lord, I understand now. In your eyes it doesn't matter if I run a stop sign or go over the speed limit. You are more concerned with matters of the heart. As You say, I am not subject to the laws of man, but to Your laws. I must love my neighbor as myself. I must love continuously and without a reason to love. In order to lead others closer to You, I must not be afraid. I must dare to be different and not conform to the ideals set forth by this world. It won't be easy, but it wasn't easy for You to die for me. Maybe because You loved me so much, loved everyone so much, and yet I remember Your words in the garden of Gesthemane, if it is Your will Father, take this cup from my lips so that I may not drink it, and die. Ok, so You didn't say that per se, however You had a hard time listening to Your own Father's will. It's a relief that the Greatest Example of humanity on Earth struggled with this. Although my tasks may be hard, I need to learn to accept it. I need to accept it. I find it hard to explain why the smoke can be a blessing, yet I know that everything that comes from you is a blessing. Lord, watch over the firemen and all Your people in the surrounding area. May the smoke clear and the fire be extinguished. I pray for everyone that is or was affected by the smoke and ask you to bless them and protect their lungs. Thank you Lord for the amazing day, and life that you have put me in. I ask that you watch over me and send the Holy Spirit to lead me into the role you have destined to be mine.
Forever and always, Your daughter,
Ashley. Amen.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Psalm 84 (Prayerful Reading)
4: ...my home is by your altars...
5: Happy are those who dwell in your house!
Lord, tonight and today was a gift. You turned my horrible experience into a good one. I felt your hand, and I want to feel your hand around mine forever. I could really be happy if I stayed in your house forever. I could and would feel complete. Thank you Lord. Amen.
5: Happy are those who dwell in your house!
Lord, tonight and today was a gift. You turned my horrible experience into a good one. I felt your hand, and I want to feel your hand around mine forever. I could really be happy if I stayed in your house forever. I could and would feel complete. Thank you Lord. Amen.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Hebrews 10: 5-10
10: By this "will," I have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
You gave up your own son, your flesh and bone, if you have it, to save me. I haven't done much to return the favor, but I am trying. Tomorrow I will go to prayer for you because you died for me. I will obey your will. I have a feeling I won't like it very much, especially if my eyes are aligned over in society but I will adapt. You know my heart, and you know my future. Lord, I pray that I continue to fall for you. Amen.
First: Acceptance of Parents
My Lord, if I have ever despised or been ashamed of my parents, from this day on I accept them with tenderness and love. I ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness, and from your hands I accept them with gratitude and with real emotion. Even though they may have died, I still welcome them and embrace them. I love them; I accept them totally and completely in the mystery of Your will. Thank you for the gift of my parents, and may their memory be blessed forever.
Second: Acceptance of My Body
My Father, source of life, grant me the grace to befriend myself. If I have ever felt ashamed of the way that I am, I ask Your forgiveness, Creator of my life and my existence. Forgive my callousness and ungratefulness. From this moment on, I want to feel contented with who I am, happy to be as I am. I praise You, I adore You, and I thank You for these hands, this face, this body. I bless you for having made me as I am. I surrender myself into Your hands, happy to be as I am.
Third: Acceptance of Sickness and Death
My Father, Lord of life and death. Grant me the grace to peacefully accept the painful mystery of life, illness, deterioration and death. Let me accept them in silence and peace without complaints and without tears. I remember that Your Son transformed the most negative and worthless things in the world, such as pain and death, into a fountain of redemption and eternal life. From this moment on, I too want to transform my pain and my death into fertile fountains of redemption. From this moment on, I want to suffer with Jesus and like Jesus. Into Your hands, Father, I surrender my life and my death, my sickness and my health. Amen.
Fourth: Acceptance of Personality (forgiveness-love)
My Father, into Your hands I place myself, with the little that I am, happy to be as I am. If I have ever felt despondent or embarrassed about myself, I ask your forgiveness for having been ashamed of the work of Your hands. I thank You for having given me the capacity to think and to know that I carry your divine and immortal breath. Grant me the grace to forgive and love my strange personality. Through Your will, I forgive and love so many things about myself, which, until now, have annoyed me so much. Into Your hands, I place the little that I am, happy to be as I am, my own friend. Thy will be done.
Fifth: Acceptance of my Past
My God, Lord of my life, grant me the grace to transform pain into love; those who never understood me, those who could never accept me and always rejected me, those who attacked me with lies, half truths and slander, those who gave me sleepless nights and days full of tears. From this moment on, I want to transform all of those painful memories into an offering of love, and silently surrender them into the depths of Your will.
Thy will be done.
The soul's resistance, the heart's resentments, life's rebellions, inner struggles, private conflicts, painful memories, flawed personality traits, life's unhealed wounds, turmoil, tears, my soul's wails... I want to reduce it all to silence, in honor of my love for Your holy and mysterious will. Thy will be done.
Everything I was and shouldn't have been, everything that I did and shouldn't have done, everything that I said and shouldn't have said, I place forever into the eternal oblivion of Your heart. Thy will be done.
Those people who hurt me so...
Those first enemies...
That first failure and then that other one, which was the worst one in my life...
That mistake which I regretted so much afterwards...
Those undertakings that collapsed and we all know whose fault that was...
Those ideals that I was never able to attain...
My Lord, my Lord, at this moment all of that bloody, painful mass is transformed into a fragrant offering of love, and placed forever upon the altar of Your will. Let this be the moment of my rebirth, because my past will remain forgotten and erased forever and everything will begin anew. Like a newborn child, today I can start to walk freely and happily.
In Your name, Lord. Amen
Sixth: Forgiveness in the Spirit of Jesus
O, Holy Spirit, almighty power of God, in this moment may my feelings be the feelings of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, You who did and were resurrected, and are present here at this moment, enter into my being. Possess me completely. Make Yourself vividly present in my body and my spirit, and take complete control over my feelings, my thoughts, what I am and what I have. At this moment, let Your feelings be my feelings; Your emotions, my emotions, Your eyes my eyes, Your arms my arms.
Christ Jesus, almighty loving Lord, calm this storm of resentment and hostility that I feel towards that person. I want to feel what You feel for her right now, what You felt when You died on the cross for her salvation. Pardon that person from the depths of my being. Transform my feelings into Your feelings. Love and forgive that person from within me, instead of me, with me. I want to forgive that person like You do, love her like You do, feel what You feel for her. I want to see that person through Your eyes and embrace them with Your arms. I care for her. I understand her. I forgive her. I love that person, like You, my Lord.
Her, You and I, the three united as one; the three of us in a close embrace; Her, You, and I; I, You and Her; You, Her and I, in a tender embrace; more than forgiving that person, I understand. I love, I care for her...
You gave up your own son, your flesh and bone, if you have it, to save me. I haven't done much to return the favor, but I am trying. Tomorrow I will go to prayer for you because you died for me. I will obey your will. I have a feeling I won't like it very much, especially if my eyes are aligned over in society but I will adapt. You know my heart, and you know my future. Lord, I pray that I continue to fall for you. Amen.
First: Acceptance of Parents
My Lord, if I have ever despised or been ashamed of my parents, from this day on I accept them with tenderness and love. I ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness, and from your hands I accept them with gratitude and with real emotion. Even though they may have died, I still welcome them and embrace them. I love them; I accept them totally and completely in the mystery of Your will. Thank you for the gift of my parents, and may their memory be blessed forever.
Second: Acceptance of My Body
My Father, source of life, grant me the grace to befriend myself. If I have ever felt ashamed of the way that I am, I ask Your forgiveness, Creator of my life and my existence. Forgive my callousness and ungratefulness. From this moment on, I want to feel contented with who I am, happy to be as I am. I praise You, I adore You, and I thank You for these hands, this face, this body. I bless you for having made me as I am. I surrender myself into Your hands, happy to be as I am.
Third: Acceptance of Sickness and Death
My Father, Lord of life and death. Grant me the grace to peacefully accept the painful mystery of life, illness, deterioration and death. Let me accept them in silence and peace without complaints and without tears. I remember that Your Son transformed the most negative and worthless things in the world, such as pain and death, into a fountain of redemption and eternal life. From this moment on, I too want to transform my pain and my death into fertile fountains of redemption. From this moment on, I want to suffer with Jesus and like Jesus. Into Your hands, Father, I surrender my life and my death, my sickness and my health. Amen.
Fourth: Acceptance of Personality (forgiveness-love)
My Father, into Your hands I place myself, with the little that I am, happy to be as I am. If I have ever felt despondent or embarrassed about myself, I ask your forgiveness for having been ashamed of the work of Your hands. I thank You for having given me the capacity to think and to know that I carry your divine and immortal breath. Grant me the grace to forgive and love my strange personality. Through Your will, I forgive and love so many things about myself, which, until now, have annoyed me so much. Into Your hands, I place the little that I am, happy to be as I am, my own friend. Thy will be done.
Fifth: Acceptance of my Past
My God, Lord of my life, grant me the grace to transform pain into love; those who never understood me, those who could never accept me and always rejected me, those who attacked me with lies, half truths and slander, those who gave me sleepless nights and days full of tears. From this moment on, I want to transform all of those painful memories into an offering of love, and silently surrender them into the depths of Your will.
Thy will be done.
The soul's resistance, the heart's resentments, life's rebellions, inner struggles, private conflicts, painful memories, flawed personality traits, life's unhealed wounds, turmoil, tears, my soul's wails... I want to reduce it all to silence, in honor of my love for Your holy and mysterious will. Thy will be done.
Everything I was and shouldn't have been, everything that I did and shouldn't have done, everything that I said and shouldn't have said, I place forever into the eternal oblivion of Your heart. Thy will be done.
Those people who hurt me so...
Those first enemies...
That first failure and then that other one, which was the worst one in my life...
That mistake which I regretted so much afterwards...
Those undertakings that collapsed and we all know whose fault that was...
Those ideals that I was never able to attain...
My Lord, my Lord, at this moment all of that bloody, painful mass is transformed into a fragrant offering of love, and placed forever upon the altar of Your will. Let this be the moment of my rebirth, because my past will remain forgotten and erased forever and everything will begin anew. Like a newborn child, today I can start to walk freely and happily.
In Your name, Lord. Amen
Sixth: Forgiveness in the Spirit of Jesus
O, Holy Spirit, almighty power of God, in this moment may my feelings be the feelings of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, You who did and were resurrected, and are present here at this moment, enter into my being. Possess me completely. Make Yourself vividly present in my body and my spirit, and take complete control over my feelings, my thoughts, what I am and what I have. At this moment, let Your feelings be my feelings; Your emotions, my emotions, Your eyes my eyes, Your arms my arms.
Christ Jesus, almighty loving Lord, calm this storm of resentment and hostility that I feel towards that person. I want to feel what You feel for her right now, what You felt when You died on the cross for her salvation. Pardon that person from the depths of my being. Transform my feelings into Your feelings. Love and forgive that person from within me, instead of me, with me. I want to forgive that person like You do, love her like You do, feel what You feel for her. I want to see that person through Your eyes and embrace them with Your arms. I care for her. I understand her. I forgive her. I love that person, like You, my Lord.
Her, You and I, the three united as one; the three of us in a close embrace; Her, You, and I; I, You and Her; You, Her and I, in a tender embrace; more than forgiving that person, I understand. I love, I care for her...
Monday, September 8, 2014
Luke 12: 22-32
22: He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life and what you will eat, or about your body and what you will wear.
24: Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds!
-Lord, you'll take care of me. Like my father Brian here on earth, you take care of me. You provide for me the situations I need to get closer to you. You gave me these amazing blessings on earth to serve you, and love you, and spread the word about you more. Maybe...I mean who am I to declare your will?
26: If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest?
31: Instead, seek his kingdom, and those other things will be given you besides.
-I won't be worried about the job. I will learn to accept it and other things. Although it's a hard pill to swallow, I will learn to leave it in your hands.
First: Acceptance of Parents
My Lord, if I have ever despised or been ashamed of my parents, from this day on I accept them with tenderness and love. I ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness, and from your hands I accept them with gratitude and with real emotion. Even though they may have died, I still welcome them and embrace them. I love them; I accept them totally and completely in the mystery of Your will. Thank you for the gift of my parents, and may their memory be blessed forever.
Second: Acceptance of My Body
My Father, source of life, grant me the grace to befriend myself. If I have ever felt ashamed of the way that I am, I ask Your forgiveness, Creator of my life and my existence. Forgive my callousness and ungratefulness. From this moment on, I want to feel contented with who I am, happy to be as I am. I praise You, I adore You, and I thank You for these hands, this face, this body. I bless you for having made me as I am. I surrender myself into Your hands, happy to be as I am.
Third: Acceptance of Sickness and Death
My Father, Lord of life and death. Grant me the grace to peacefully accept the painful mystery of life, illness, deterioration and death. Let me accept them in silence and peace without complaints and without tears. I remember that Your Son transformed the most negative and worthless things in the world, such as pain and death, into a fountain of redemption and eternal life. From this moment on, I too want to transform my pain and my death into fertile fountains of redemption. From this moment on, I want to suffer with Jesus and like Jesus. Into Your hands, Father, I surrender my life and my death, my sickness and my health. Amen.
Fourth: Acceptance of Personality (forgiveness-love)
My Father, into Your hands I place myself, with the little that I am, happy to be as I am. If I have ever felt despondent or embarrassed about myself, I ask your forgiveness for having been ashamed of the work of Your hands. I thank You for having given me the capacity to think and to know that I carry your divine and immortal breath. Grant me the grace to forgive and love my strange personality. Through Your will, I forgive and love so many things about myself, which, until now, have annoyed me so much. Into Your hands, I place the little that I am, happy to be as I am, my own friend. Thy will be done.
Fifth: Acceptance of my Past
My God, Lord of my life, grant me the grace to transform pain into love; those who never understood me, those who could never accept me and always rejected me, those who attacked me with lies, half truths and slander, those who gave me sleepless nights and days full of tears. From this moment on, I want to transform all of those painful memories into an offering of love, and silently surrender them into the depths of Your will.
Thy will be done.
The soul's resistance, the heart's resentments, life's rebellions, inner struggles, private conflicts, painful memories, flawed personality traits, life's unhealed wounds, turmoil, tears, my soul's wails... I want to reduce it all to silence, in honor of my love for Your holy and mysterious will. Thy will be done.
Everything I was and shouldn't have been, everything that I did and shouldn't have done, everything that I said and shouldn't have said, I place forever into the eternal oblivion of Your heart. Thy will be done.
Those people who hurt me so...
Those first enemies...
That first failure and then that other one, which was the worst one in my life...
That mistake which I regretted so much afterwards...
Those undertakings that collapsed and we all know whose fault that was...
Those ideals that I was never able to attain...
My Lord, my Lord, at this moment all of that bloody, painful mass is transformed into a fragrant offering of love, and placed forever upon the altar of Your will. Let this be the moment of my rebirth, because my past will remain forgotten and erased forever and everything will begin anew. Like a newborn child, today I can start to walk freely and happily.
In Your name, Lord. Amen
Sixth: Forgiveness in the Spirit of Jesus
O, Holy Spirit, almighty power of God, in this moment may my feelings be the feelings of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, You who did and were resurrected, and are present here at this moment, enter into my being. Possess me completely. Make Yourself vividly present in my body and my spirit, and take complete control over my feelings, my thoughts, what I am and what I have. At this moment, let Your feelings be my feelings; Your emotions, my emotions, Your eyes my eyes, Your arms my arms.
Christ Jesus, almighty loving Lord, calm this storm of resentment and hostility that I feel towards that person. I want to feel what You feel for her right now, what You felt when You died on the cross for her salvation. Pardon that person from the depths of my being. Transform my feelings into Your feelings. Love and forgive that person from within me, instead of me, with me. I want to forgive that person like You do, love her like You do, feel what You feel for her. I want to see that person through Your eyes and embrace them with Your arms. I care for her. I understand her. I forgive her. I love that person, like You, my Lord.
Her, You and I, the three united as one; the three of us in a close embrace; Her, You, and I; I, You and Her; You, Her and I, in a tender embrace; more than forgiving that person, I understand. I love, I care for her...
24: Notice the ravens: they do not sow or reap; they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds!
-Lord, you'll take care of me. Like my father Brian here on earth, you take care of me. You provide for me the situations I need to get closer to you. You gave me these amazing blessings on earth to serve you, and love you, and spread the word about you more. Maybe...I mean who am I to declare your will?
26: If even the smallest things are beyond your control, why are you anxious about the rest?
31: Instead, seek his kingdom, and those other things will be given you besides.
-I won't be worried about the job. I will learn to accept it and other things. Although it's a hard pill to swallow, I will learn to leave it in your hands.
First: Acceptance of Parents
My Lord, if I have ever despised or been ashamed of my parents, from this day on I accept them with tenderness and love. I ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness, and from your hands I accept them with gratitude and with real emotion. Even though they may have died, I still welcome them and embrace them. I love them; I accept them totally and completely in the mystery of Your will. Thank you for the gift of my parents, and may their memory be blessed forever.
Second: Acceptance of My Body
My Father, source of life, grant me the grace to befriend myself. If I have ever felt ashamed of the way that I am, I ask Your forgiveness, Creator of my life and my existence. Forgive my callousness and ungratefulness. From this moment on, I want to feel contented with who I am, happy to be as I am. I praise You, I adore You, and I thank You for these hands, this face, this body. I bless you for having made me as I am. I surrender myself into Your hands, happy to be as I am.
Third: Acceptance of Sickness and Death
My Father, Lord of life and death. Grant me the grace to peacefully accept the painful mystery of life, illness, deterioration and death. Let me accept them in silence and peace without complaints and without tears. I remember that Your Son transformed the most negative and worthless things in the world, such as pain and death, into a fountain of redemption and eternal life. From this moment on, I too want to transform my pain and my death into fertile fountains of redemption. From this moment on, I want to suffer with Jesus and like Jesus. Into Your hands, Father, I surrender my life and my death, my sickness and my health. Amen.
Fourth: Acceptance of Personality (forgiveness-love)
My Father, into Your hands I place myself, with the little that I am, happy to be as I am. If I have ever felt despondent or embarrassed about myself, I ask your forgiveness for having been ashamed of the work of Your hands. I thank You for having given me the capacity to think and to know that I carry your divine and immortal breath. Grant me the grace to forgive and love my strange personality. Through Your will, I forgive and love so many things about myself, which, until now, have annoyed me so much. Into Your hands, I place the little that I am, happy to be as I am, my own friend. Thy will be done.
Fifth: Acceptance of my Past
My God, Lord of my life, grant me the grace to transform pain into love; those who never understood me, those who could never accept me and always rejected me, those who attacked me with lies, half truths and slander, those who gave me sleepless nights and days full of tears. From this moment on, I want to transform all of those painful memories into an offering of love, and silently surrender them into the depths of Your will.
Thy will be done.
The soul's resistance, the heart's resentments, life's rebellions, inner struggles, private conflicts, painful memories, flawed personality traits, life's unhealed wounds, turmoil, tears, my soul's wails... I want to reduce it all to silence, in honor of my love for Your holy and mysterious will. Thy will be done.
Everything I was and shouldn't have been, everything that I did and shouldn't have done, everything that I said and shouldn't have said, I place forever into the eternal oblivion of Your heart. Thy will be done.
Those people who hurt me so...
Those first enemies...
That first failure and then that other one, which was the worst one in my life...
That mistake which I regretted so much afterwards...
Those undertakings that collapsed and we all know whose fault that was...
Those ideals that I was never able to attain...
My Lord, my Lord, at this moment all of that bloody, painful mass is transformed into a fragrant offering of love, and placed forever upon the altar of Your will. Let this be the moment of my rebirth, because my past will remain forgotten and erased forever and everything will begin anew. Like a newborn child, today I can start to walk freely and happily.
In Your name, Lord. Amen
Sixth: Forgiveness in the Spirit of Jesus
O, Holy Spirit, almighty power of God, in this moment may my feelings be the feelings of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, You who did and were resurrected, and are present here at this moment, enter into my being. Possess me completely. Make Yourself vividly present in my body and my spirit, and take complete control over my feelings, my thoughts, what I am and what I have. At this moment, let Your feelings be my feelings; Your emotions, my emotions, Your eyes my eyes, Your arms my arms.
Christ Jesus, almighty loving Lord, calm this storm of resentment and hostility that I feel towards that person. I want to feel what You feel for her right now, what You felt when You died on the cross for her salvation. Pardon that person from the depths of my being. Transform my feelings into Your feelings. Love and forgive that person from within me, instead of me, with me. I want to forgive that person like You do, love her like You do, feel what You feel for her. I want to see that person through Your eyes and embrace them with Your arms. I care for her. I understand her. I forgive her. I love that person, like You, my Lord.
Her, You and I, the three united as one; the three of us in a close embrace; Her, You, and I; I, You and Her; You, Her and I, in a tender embrace; more than forgiving that person, I understand. I love, I care for her...
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Psalm 119 4-16 (prayerful reading)
5: May my ways be firm in the observance of your laws!
6: Then I will not be ashamed to ponder all your commands.
9: How can the young walk without fault? Only by keeping your words.
14: I find joy in the way of your decrees more than in all riches.
Since the theme for this week is forgiveness I probably should have written something about forgiveness. But if I should have than you would have told me. Maybe love is more appropriate. I haven't spoken to you in a long time, and I think I didn't because I was afraid. Mom says that I am afraid to be a nurse because I don't want to kill any one. I have never felt that. I just felt like I was putting it off, like hiding it away like my feelings so I appear tough on the outside and can deal with it later. I feel the same way about praying to you that I do in regards to nursing and I guess that means I'm scared. I feel like everything I have said to you has been about fear and I need to accept that. I am very comfortable the way I am in life right now and I don't want to change. I can feel this little push to change and there are times that I want to be like Sarah, and Maria. They seem to be so close to you God. That picture that you showed me, about focusing on you. Does that mean that I have to forget about guys and a career? It sounds so shallow I know but I just want...you know what I want. You see me for who I am and you haven't left me. Why am I not satisfied my Lord?
First: Acceptance of Parents
My Lord, if I have ever despised or been ashamed of my parents, from this day on I accept them with tenderness and love. I ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness, and from your hands I accept them with gratitude and with real emotion. Even though they may have died, I still welcome them and embrace them. I love them; I accept them totally and completely in the mystery of Your will. Thank you for the gift of my parents, and may their memory be blessed forever.
Second: Acceptance of My Body
My Father, source of life, grant me the grace to befriend myself. If I have ever felt ashamed of the way that I am, I ask Your forgiveness, Creator of my life and my existence. Forgive my callousness and ungratefulness. From this moment on, I want to feel contented with who I am, happy to be as I am. I praise You, I adore You, and I thank You for these hands, this face, this body. I bless you for having made me as I am. I surrender myself into Your hands, happy to be as I am.
Third: Acceptance of Sickness and Death
My Father, Lord of life and death. Grant me the grace to peacefully accept the painful mystery of life, illness, deterioration and death. Let me accept them in silence and peace without complaints and without tears. I remember that Your Son transformed the most negative and worthless things in the world, such as pain and death, into a fountain of redemption and eternal life. From this moment on, I too want to transform my pain and my death into fertile fountains of redemption. From this moment on, I want to suffer with Jesus and like Jesus. Into Your hands, Father, I surrender my life and my death, my sickness and my health. Amen.
Fourth: Acceptance of Personality (forgiveness-love)
My Father, into Your hands I place myself, with the little that I am, happy to be as I am. If I have ever felt despondent or embarrassed about myself, I ask your forgiveness for having been ashamed of the work of Your hands. I thank You for having given me the capacity to think and to know that I carry your divine and immortal breath. Grant me the grace to forgive and love my strange personality. Through Your will, I forgive and love so many things about myself, which, until now, have annoyed me so much. Into Your hands, I place the little that I am, happy to be as I am, my own friend. Thy will be done.
Fifth: Acceptance of my Past
My God, Lord of my life, grant me the grace to transform pain into love; those who never understood me, those who could never accept me and always rejected me, those who attacked me with lies, half truths and slander, those who gave me sleepless nights and days full of tears. From this moment on, I want to transform all of those painful memories into an offering of love, and silently surrender them into the depths of Your will.
Thy will be done.
The soul's resistance, the heart's resentments, life's rebellions, inner struggles, private conflicts, painful memories, flawed personality traits, life's unhealed wounds, turmoil, tears, my soul's wails... I want to reduce it all to silence, in honor of my love for Your holy and mysterious will. Thy will be done.
Everything I was and shouldn't have been, everything that I did and shouldn't have done, everything that I said and shouldn't have said, I place forever into the eternal oblivion of Your heart. Thy will be done.
Those people who hurt me so...
Those first enemies...
That first failure and then that other one, which was the worst one in my life...
That mistake which I regretted so much afterwards...
Those undertakings that collapsed and we all know whose fault that was...
Those ideals that I was never able to attain...
My Lord, my Lord, at this moment all of that bloody, painful mass is transformed into a fragrant offering of love, and placed forever upon the altar of Your will. Let this be the moment of my rebirth, because my past will remain forgotten and erased forever and everything will begin anew. Like a newborn child, today I can start to walk freely and happily.
In Your name, Lord. Amen
Sixth: Forgiveness in the Spirit of Jesus
O, Holy Spirit, almighty power of God, in this moment may my feelings be the feelings of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, You who did and were resurrected, and are present here at this moment, enter into my being. Possess me completely. Make Yourself vividly present in my body and my spirit, and take complete control over my feelings, my thoughts, what I am and what I have. At this moment, let Your feelings be my feelings; Your emotions, my emotions, Your eyes my eyes, Your arms my arms.
Christ Jesus, almighty loving Lord, calm this storm of resentment and hostility that I feel towards that person. I want to feel what You feel for her right now, what You felt when You died on the cross for her salvation. Pardon that person from the depths of my being. Transform my feelings into Your feelings. Love and forgive that person from within me, instead of me, with me. I want to forgive that person like You do, love her like You do, feel what You feel for her. I want to see that person through Your eyes and embrace them with Your arms. I care for her. I understand her. I forgive her. I love that person, like You, my Lord.
Her, You and I, the three united as one; the three of us in a close embrace; Her, You, and I; I, You and Her; You, Her and I, in a tender embrace; more than forgiving that person, I understand. I love, I care for her...
6: Then I will not be ashamed to ponder all your commands.
9: How can the young walk without fault? Only by keeping your words.
14: I find joy in the way of your decrees more than in all riches.
Since the theme for this week is forgiveness I probably should have written something about forgiveness. But if I should have than you would have told me. Maybe love is more appropriate. I haven't spoken to you in a long time, and I think I didn't because I was afraid. Mom says that I am afraid to be a nurse because I don't want to kill any one. I have never felt that. I just felt like I was putting it off, like hiding it away like my feelings so I appear tough on the outside and can deal with it later. I feel the same way about praying to you that I do in regards to nursing and I guess that means I'm scared. I feel like everything I have said to you has been about fear and I need to accept that. I am very comfortable the way I am in life right now and I don't want to change. I can feel this little push to change and there are times that I want to be like Sarah, and Maria. They seem to be so close to you God. That picture that you showed me, about focusing on you. Does that mean that I have to forget about guys and a career? It sounds so shallow I know but I just want...you know what I want. You see me for who I am and you haven't left me. Why am I not satisfied my Lord?
First: Acceptance of Parents
My Lord, if I have ever despised or been ashamed of my parents, from this day on I accept them with tenderness and love. I ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness, and from your hands I accept them with gratitude and with real emotion. Even though they may have died, I still welcome them and embrace them. I love them; I accept them totally and completely in the mystery of Your will. Thank you for the gift of my parents, and may their memory be blessed forever.
Second: Acceptance of My Body
My Father, source of life, grant me the grace to befriend myself. If I have ever felt ashamed of the way that I am, I ask Your forgiveness, Creator of my life and my existence. Forgive my callousness and ungratefulness. From this moment on, I want to feel contented with who I am, happy to be as I am. I praise You, I adore You, and I thank You for these hands, this face, this body. I bless you for having made me as I am. I surrender myself into Your hands, happy to be as I am.
Third: Acceptance of Sickness and Death
My Father, Lord of life and death. Grant me the grace to peacefully accept the painful mystery of life, illness, deterioration and death. Let me accept them in silence and peace without complaints and without tears. I remember that Your Son transformed the most negative and worthless things in the world, such as pain and death, into a fountain of redemption and eternal life. From this moment on, I too want to transform my pain and my death into fertile fountains of redemption. From this moment on, I want to suffer with Jesus and like Jesus. Into Your hands, Father, I surrender my life and my death, my sickness and my health. Amen.
Fourth: Acceptance of Personality (forgiveness-love)
My Father, into Your hands I place myself, with the little that I am, happy to be as I am. If I have ever felt despondent or embarrassed about myself, I ask your forgiveness for having been ashamed of the work of Your hands. I thank You for having given me the capacity to think and to know that I carry your divine and immortal breath. Grant me the grace to forgive and love my strange personality. Through Your will, I forgive and love so many things about myself, which, until now, have annoyed me so much. Into Your hands, I place the little that I am, happy to be as I am, my own friend. Thy will be done.
Fifth: Acceptance of my Past
My God, Lord of my life, grant me the grace to transform pain into love; those who never understood me, those who could never accept me and always rejected me, those who attacked me with lies, half truths and slander, those who gave me sleepless nights and days full of tears. From this moment on, I want to transform all of those painful memories into an offering of love, and silently surrender them into the depths of Your will.
Thy will be done.
The soul's resistance, the heart's resentments, life's rebellions, inner struggles, private conflicts, painful memories, flawed personality traits, life's unhealed wounds, turmoil, tears, my soul's wails... I want to reduce it all to silence, in honor of my love for Your holy and mysterious will. Thy will be done.
Everything I was and shouldn't have been, everything that I did and shouldn't have done, everything that I said and shouldn't have said, I place forever into the eternal oblivion of Your heart. Thy will be done.
Those people who hurt me so...
Those first enemies...
That first failure and then that other one, which was the worst one in my life...
That mistake which I regretted so much afterwards...
Those undertakings that collapsed and we all know whose fault that was...
Those ideals that I was never able to attain...
My Lord, my Lord, at this moment all of that bloody, painful mass is transformed into a fragrant offering of love, and placed forever upon the altar of Your will. Let this be the moment of my rebirth, because my past will remain forgotten and erased forever and everything will begin anew. Like a newborn child, today I can start to walk freely and happily.
In Your name, Lord. Amen
Sixth: Forgiveness in the Spirit of Jesus
O, Holy Spirit, almighty power of God, in this moment may my feelings be the feelings of Jesus.
Lord Jesus, You who did and were resurrected, and are present here at this moment, enter into my being. Possess me completely. Make Yourself vividly present in my body and my spirit, and take complete control over my feelings, my thoughts, what I am and what I have. At this moment, let Your feelings be my feelings; Your emotions, my emotions, Your eyes my eyes, Your arms my arms.
Christ Jesus, almighty loving Lord, calm this storm of resentment and hostility that I feel towards that person. I want to feel what You feel for her right now, what You felt when You died on the cross for her salvation. Pardon that person from the depths of my being. Transform my feelings into Your feelings. Love and forgive that person from within me, instead of me, with me. I want to forgive that person like You do, love her like You do, feel what You feel for her. I want to see that person through Your eyes and embrace them with Your arms. I care for her. I understand her. I forgive her. I love that person, like You, my Lord.
Her, You and I, the three united as one; the three of us in a close embrace; Her, You, and I; I, You and Her; You, Her and I, in a tender embrace; more than forgiving that person, I understand. I love, I care for her...
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